Tag Archives: Soniqplay

Music Industry Blog Start-Up Showcase winner Soniqplaythis week announced the launch of a remix app in conjunction with EDM radio station KISS. Soniqplay’s founder and CEO Martin Macmillan said “This is a big day for us as we roll out our first scale commercial launch of our new digital model. We believe music fans want to be able to do more with the music they love and this experience turns the music experience from a passive to an active one.”

The app leverages Soniqplay’s stem-based remixing technology to give users the ability to create their own mixes of KISS playlist tracks. Tracks are available for £1.99 and include individual song parts such as beats and vocals, and users can share their remixed creations on their social networks.

OUR TAKE

In August 2011 we wrote about the concept of Agile Music, whereby music moves turns into a continually evolving creative construct, with artists pulling fans directly into the creative process (you can download the report for free here). At the time there wasn’t much in the way of technology enabling this sort of vision (with the notable exception of MXP4) but now there are a growing number of remix tools, including MixMeIn, Club Create and of course Soniqplay. Remixing is of course just one way in which fans can contribute and create but it is a crucially important one. The challenge for all of the remix apps is how to grow this market beyond EDM. MixMeIn had some success with Taylor Swift, but mainstream remix opportunity remains to be tapped. Soniqplay are well positioned to do so.

At long last we are proud to announce the results of the Music Industry Blog Start-Up Showcase.

The judging panel consisted of myself, Martin Goldschmidt, Chairman of the Cooking Vinyl Group, Davin McDermott, Director and Head of Music at RSM Tenon and Keith Jopling, Leading Music Industry Consultant. (Panellist bios can be found here). For sake of objectivity judges were not allowed to vote for any company they have any direct involvement with.

We were inundated with applicants and after whittling down the original list to meet the entry requirements to 23 companies (we were exclusively looking at early stage music start-ups) we went through a lengthy and difficult process scoring and assessing them. Each company was scored against 8 criteria: Product Idea, Business Model, Uniqueness, Competitive Positioning, Market Need, Strategic Vision, Team, and Execution. Companies were scored out of three in each category and a weighted average total score was created from each of those sub categories.

The core objective of the showcase was to give invaluable to exposure to early stage companies who don’t yet have the traction and/or resources to achieve it themselves. So although we are announcing winners we are also publishing details of all the 23 finalist companies. Also, we wanted this to be more than just a beauty parade. With such a wealth of collective music business experience in our panel) each entrant has received directly from us their complete scores and judges feedback, including positives, negatives and recommendations.

With no further ado, here are the results of the 2012 Music Industry Blog Start-Up Showcase.

In their own words: “Soniqplay has developed an interactive music platform which enables easy creation of engaging music-based apps for brand and media owners – we turn consumers into content creators.”

We liked Soniqplay because: Soniqplay have great looking products coupled with good market traction and an impressive team that gets the music sector. Their combination of vision, robust business model and solid execution impressed the judges. The only concern that the panel had was whether Soniqplay was able to differentiate sufficiently in what is a relatively crowded market segment. But with already impressive traction, Soniqplay look well placed to meet this challenge head on.

In their own words: “Definition Music Limited is a 360 Music company that focuses on development of IP and Copyright through the early development of writers and artists.”

We liked Definition Music because: Definition Music have identified a market opportunity for the next generation of indie record label, one that is designed around the modern landscape of digital tools and networks rather than simply incorporating them. Definition Music’s emphasis on focusing on a few artists is a core asset but also underpins one of the panel’s concerns: whether the model is scalable enough to get the hits.

In their own words: “We provide a powerful web based software platform for companies to manage and exploit music catalogues for synch purposes.”

We liked Synchtank because: Synchtank have successfully identified a niche but clear and largely un-addressed market need. They have backed this up with a clear vision, solid execution, proven traction and organic commercial success.

In their own words: “Breakrs is an online music entertainment community for fans to find and “break” the best new music.”

We liked Breakrs.com because: Breakrs.com combine good vision, bold ambition and meet both consumer and industry needs. Judges were though concerned about Breakrs.com’s ability to execute on its roadmap and the ability to build a community audience outside of the established social platforms.

Congratulations to the podium place winners of Music Industry Blog Start-Up Showcase 2012. Thank you also to all of the judges. Watch this space for details of the next Start-Up Showcase.

Here are the high level overviews and placings of all 23 Start-Up Showcase finalists. Contact details for all of these companies are available on their respective websites but if you would like a direct introduction to any of them then please email me at musicindustryblog AT gmail DOT COM.

Company Name

Overall Score

Express Elevator Pitch

URL

Soniqplay

2.40

Soniqplay has developed an interactive music platform which enables easy creation of engaging music-based apps for brand and media owners – we turn consumers into content creators.

Mix Me In’s SocialMusic Player monetizes and engages the 1.5 Billion Fans of the top 100 Artists within Facebook, Google+ and other Social Media by allowing fans to instantly create and share custom versions of songs by their favorite artists.

Created by musicians and music fans, Eye in the Sky Collective is building a new, more sustainable model for the music industry- one that empowers artists to keep all of their music rights, 100% of their profit and build a long-term career while enabling fans to have a unique music discovery platform

We scan your digital profiles on music services, social networks and mobile devices to create a custom profile together with tailored music and other content, which gets better with feedback on our curated choices.